The CNE has been caught red handed?

As a follow up from last nigth post (do not miss it!), I am pleased to see that the CNE is sensing trouble ahead. Descending from its arrogant position, it is willing to discuss "better" ways to use the finger printing devices. associated with the voting process.

Let me explain, again, you how this is basically bull shit, and I spell it completely on purpose, even if this is a family oriented blog.

The finger printing device per se is not really a problem in that it could indeed catch people trying to vote twice (though the set up of this system is rather extremely expensive for the avowed objective and the results reported so far).

THE PROBLEM with the finger printing device is that it allows for the CNE to figure out who voted for whom, even if disingenuously the CNE claims that all pen drives / memories will be erased in no more than 72 hours. ANYONE who has used a pen drive or portable memory device knows very well that copying to it from a computer, or an electronic voting machine, will take only a few minutes. WHO IS GOING to make sure that no one comes around in that 72 hours delay to copy the confidential information? The sold out Venezuelan army? The CNE more than sold out personnel? Pleaaaase.....

This is far from being resolved and a stormy meeting at the CNE this afternoon can be anticipated.

Electoral trouble ahead in Venezuela

The Turkey Holy-day has passed and I was rather busy on personal things, and thus I kept a distant eye on the news. Yet, the news got quite exciting. It will be too long to report all in detail, not to mention that I do not dispose of the time to do an exhaustive link search and other consultations. However something is quite clear: there is trouble in the CNE electoral paradise. Until I can get back home and post in some more details I wanted to write some quick summary.

The whole problem, or rather recent problem I should say since the CNE has been saddled for now two years with a confidence problem it is unable to shake off, came up last Wednesday when a pre voting audit for some machines took place. Right off the bat, it is important to note that the machines at Mariches, the “testing” grounds, had been selected by the CNE for the international observers and political parties. This unverifiable sampling was done because, duh!, the voting machines had already been distributed and it was too difficult in a single day to go to at least 3 or 4 states to pick machines at random.

But let’s not obsess about this first irregularity. What was worse is that during the audit it was established that indeed the sequences of people arrival at the voting center could easily be matched with the actual voting sequence in the machines. The implication? The secret of vote is now non existing in Venezuela. In other words, as voting progress the CNE can see exactly how the vote is going, if chavistas are indeed voting fro chavista candidates, if the abstention is high enough, etc, etc… And thus the CNE could get the ability to make any changes in the results, any voter addition it decided since it would KNOW WHO DID NOT VOTE AND THUS MAKE THEM “VOTE” FOR CHAVISTA CANDIDATES AS NEEDED.

There is actually an excellent piece of indirect evidence: many chavitas candidates are not only not bothering to campaign, but some have been reported traveling LESS than 2 weeks before the election to visit their guru in India!!! TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE ELECTION! Who does suspend a campaign in what country unless they are certain to win?

Of course, the CNE tried very hard to hide that Wednesday failure, which we are told impressed very much the international observers. These were also very impressed by a little program circulating in chavista government circles, a little program that gives the user all the official information to screen folks: whether they voted for Chavez, signed against him in 2004, belong to a “Mision”, etc… While chavista campaign managers benefit for this outrageous violation of privacy, the CNE plays dumb and refuses to surrender the electoral rosters that the opposition demands to be able to make an audit and see if people registered to vote are real people, Venezuelans, and registered more than once. The recent exposure of hundred of people with the same last name registered to vote on the same day in Zulia, demonstrates without a doubt that an extensive revision of the electoral rolls in Venezuela is A MUST!

But more “cute” stories have been coming up since last Wednesday. For example the clumsy excuses offered by the CNE representatives who hid behind such lameness as “this is confidential” “you must trust us, we mean well” which sound much more like a used car salesman speech than a state entity which should be of absolute transparency for this outmost task in a democracy, to determine who is the real winner. As for the protestations of Jorge Rodriguez, the CNE head who now gets booed at some public events, let’s just say charitably that they were less than reassuring.

And today EL Universal revived the claims of electoral fraud on August 2004 when new studies, much more detailed, would indicate that not only Chavez did pat his majority fraudulently (this blogger thesis) but that in fact he may have lost by a 5% margin!!!! That is the Chavez August 15 victory by 18% was actually a defeat by 5%!

But eventually fraud is ALWAYS uncovered, sooner or later. I do not want to discuss that latest assertion on the August vote, but I do want to stress that THERE IS NOW ENOUGH, CLEAR, UNAVOIDABLE EVIDENCE OF A COMING FRAUD ON NEXT SUNDAY VOTE. The only question now is what the opposition parties are going to do? Are they going to go to the slaughter house anyway? Not with this blogger now! Are they going to finally take a principled stand and decide on real actions? Certainly with this blogger behind and probably million-S of Venezuelans!

I will not anticipate what will happen, I am not enough in the news to write more than what I already wrote, a text on what is now vox populi in the Venezuelan streets as the CNE leadership is in obvious discomfort, not to mention the chavista leadership. However we can already see where it is heading. SUMATE who has been stating “irregular” voting conditions for now years has called for all Venezuelans to go to church on Sunday and pray for the country. Huh? Well, this is actually a delicate way for SUMATE to call for abstention: instead of voting do pack all Venezuelans church at 11 AM on election day and let the cameras film the empty voting stations. You can imagine the PR problems of such an initiative!!! William Lara, the scummy chavista campaign director was already today asking for Maria Corina Machado head and daring the Catholic church to take a stand against this “gross manipulation on Catholics like myself”. Lara as a practicing Roman Catholic! Bwahahahahah!

I personally think that AD and Primero Justicia should withdraw unless the CNE does:

-remove finger printing machines
-makes a hot audit on the very Sunday
-remove electoral voting books which are even more fraudulent than the finger printing machines
-surrender to ALL political parties the electoral roster so as to audit it independently from governmental interference
-postpone the elections for at least two months to allow the CNE to clean up their act

I have no suggestions to give to the opposition parties, but after this last days “incidents”, they should be very careful as to the steps they will take. AD has a golden opportunity to demonstrate that it is not dealing behind doors with chavismo to get a few paltry seats. Primero Justicia can demonstrate that they have actually spine, a leader and a plan. The others that they are committed to democracy and to the fight against Chavez fascism by supporting any decision of the two larger groups. All together to demonstrate to the international observers who now are more likely to decide in their favor that they are indeed a solid opposition group that will not be cheated upon anymore. The observers can demonstrate that they are real observers and not a succedaneum like the Carter Center. Or they can ALL sink together once and for all, the parties losing the country and the observers losing their reputation, as the Carter Center did one year ago.

Stay tuned, it is getting quite interesting.

And your devoted blogger who has already explained many other aspects of Venezuelan electoral fraud will be back to regular blogging very soon.

Voting on December 4. Are venezuelan living abroad excluded?

Venezuelans living abroad seem to be second class citizens when it is time to vote. Venezuelan consulates around the world have today no idea on how their citizens are going to vote in the forthcoming venezuelan elections that will take place on December 4, 2005. Just nine days away (see here).

Several friends living abroad have called their consulates and the answer is that they have no news from the goverment on how the vote will be organized.


Interestingly, expatriated venezuelans did vote in Consulates and Embassies on August 15, 2004 on the revocatory referendum. They went to vote massively despite long hours of waiting. The results were overwhelming in favor of revoking the mandate of Hugo Chavez, as can be seen here. Also note the fact that the vote abroad was not electronic.

Is this just Chavista incompetence or is it a deliberate measure to insure that a portion of those that oppose Chavez are denied the right to vote?

So, dear readers, if you are a Venezuelan citizen living abroad, call your Consulate and ask them about the voting arrangements. Then post a note here so that we can read all the chavista excuses for denying you your right to vote.

Note1 added.- According to the information provided by one of the readers, it is possible to vote in the Chicago Consulate. But other readers have gotten no anwers about voting from their Consulates. So this is important. Call your local Consulate and let us know. Here is the link for Consulate info

A fluff post and a happy Turkey Day wish

Wednesday I will be on the road. For the first time in a few years I am actually going to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving. It is not, unfortunately, a Venezuelan holiday. I say unfortunately since through my years living in "El Norte" it grew on me and I have missed it since I came back to live in Venezuela. A nice, rather low commercial holiday (if it were not for "Mall day" that comes right behind!).

Thus for the next few days there will be lite posting, as I will be digesting turkey and attending other Caracas obligations. Besides that 1000 mark sorts of begs for lite posting, you know. To start in this fluff mode until elections next week draw me back to reality, I was thinking that perhaps a new color scheme would be good for the blog. Looking around I found this totally mindless test which gave the fololwing result:

Your Blog Should Be Green

Your blog is smart and thoughtful - not a lot of fluff. You enjoy a good discussion, especially if it involves picking apart ideas. However, you tend to get easily annoyed by any thoughtless comments in your blog.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

And with that, have a nice Thanksgiving day travel today, the worst Wednesday to travel in the US. And if you make it sound and safe and happy to a normally dysfucntional family, may you enjoy the best Thursday of the year. For the others? Well, go and get yourself at least a turkey sandwich for lunch and join us.

PS: let's us all hope that Turkey day will not be attacked like Halloween was by El Turkey Supremo.

The 1000th post

According to Blogger, this is the post number 1000. Not the one 1000 that I wrote (there have been at least 5 other contributors). Just the 1000 post.

I think I deserve a night off. Ponderous meditation can wait.

Chavez real targets: the Anderson case as a decoy

All will agree that the past few weeks in Venezuela have been a near total pandemonium. As such, the only visible result so far is a now totally discredited office of the Nation’s Prosecutor as its holder Isaias Rodriguez simply looks like a fool on drugs. In its wake the scandal has taken the chair of the National Assembly equally on drugs and even more of a lout than one could have guessed. Yesterday a Chavez wearing Mexican hats and chanting “rancheras” to justify his aggression on Fox was the ultimate. In fact it deserves a closer examination, just to show the casual reader what a circus we are living in.

Chavismo convoked a march to protest against imperialism as the real agent causing the break up between Fox and Venezuela. Obviously Chavez is desperate to draw some official US/Bush retort, the final blessing in order to become the official heir of Castro. And so far the US has been holding still, not falling into the silly game. The convoked march was far from being a success. As seen from the picture next, even the very official Bolivarian News Agency, ABN, could not come up with a better picture: a tight group of marchers, but no more than a couple of thousand. The surrounding emptiness can be seen clearly. At the arrival, in a chavista area, the crowds swelled more. Then again people did not have to walk that much and probably booze was served. At any rate it was enough to justify Chavez apparition. All the usual recrimination against Bush were there to greet the attendees. But probably sensing that the rallying of most of Mexico behind Fox was an unpredicted and certainly gross Venezuelan diplomatic miscalculation, Chavez donned, ridiculously, a Mexican hat and sang a few “rancheras”. Anything for a laugh! With that performance Chavez joined HIS General Prosecutor and HIS National Assembly to show that they indeed act according to HIS example and the lines that HE gives.

But it would all be fine, and mildly amusing even if it were not that this “bon enfant” fun is hiding much darker designs. And people are not fooled.

More and more the overplaying of the Anderson case is seen as:

1) An electoral threat to try to push the opposition into some miscalculation, or at least to stimulate opposition abstention and distract from any feeble campaign they might be doing, or exposing their hard found temporary unity.

2) If that does not work out, induce the remaining independent media into some improper declaration and thus give an excuse to close them or at least bar them from showing the increasing popular unhappiness that expresses itself more and more. The most popular variety these days is to block the Autopista Regional del Centro, Venezuela’s traffic aorta equivalent. Or drop garbage or other obstacles in the middle of the streets.

3) And if that does not work well, then at least intimidate the opposition and media leadership by jailing, DELIBERATELY, a few without any real charges against them. It does not matter if they are released after a few weeks with an “oops!”: the psychological effect should have been reached.

But it does not seem to work so far. Ridicule keeps hurting more chavismo than it hurts Fox, or Bush or anyone else. And two strong voices were raised this week to counter chavismo ill thought and, let’s not be afraid of words, fascistic argumentation and methods.

The first salvo was the impassioned defense of Globovision made by one of its owners. Clearly, Globovision is THE target of the Maduro infamous declarations. Guillermo Zuluoga does not thread lightly when he states, on paper and on video (1) the following:

Globovison engages itself not to demonstrate the innocence of Nelson Mezerhane which has never been in doubt, but to demonstrate to Venezuela and the World that all of this business is an infamy of no precedent. It was imagined to hide or cover up something that we do not know of, but it has been so lousily set up that the facts that it mentions, through a very unreliable witness, are impossible to demonstrate whereas it is perfectly possible to demonstrate that Nelson Mezerhane could not have been found at the alleged sites in the dates mentioned by the witness.

Mister General Prosecutor and Mister President of the National Assembly, you know, as everyone in Venezuela [knows], that Globovision does only inform of the truth. When real information is annoying, it is worth wondering why.

May all Venezuelans be assured that we will stay here. Informing as [we] always [do]. Because Globovision commitment is with Venezuela, with all of you.

Today it is against us, tomorrow it can be against anyone of you.

Strong stuff indeed! Maduro and Isaias know full well that Globovision ratings, in particular “Alo Ciudadano”, are impressive and draw a large chavista audience which does not see its problems reflected in the state controlled media. That surely hurts! It remains to be seen if in front of such a challenge Isaias and Maduro will persist in their now revealed ill intentions.

But in an amazing coincidence, a few minutes after an equally stronger statement came from Marcel Granier. He is one of the owners of the other network that has not bowed to Chavez, that keeps the only talk show of inquisitive journalism that is second only to Alo Ciudadano and which controls the AM ratings: La Entrevista. And to make matters worse, Marcel Granier was exiting a meeting with the OAS observers and the CNE where the OAS got apparently quite a serving of what is REALLY going on in Venezuela. The video is too long to transcribe but would deserve it (2). Below one of the gems that the OAS can mull around:

“the disequilibrium as to the propaganda from the government, which overcomes the one from the opposition in a proportion of 1 to 20 000, Not 1 to 20. I even saw the members of the CNE sincerely worried, because this does not guarantee the healthy atmosphere that all Venezuelans want”

It is significant that Marcel Granier recognizes that even the highly biased CNE recognizes indirectly that the government is pushing the envelope too far. They certainly will not act against Chavez, this blogger is sure of that, but he cites this item to try to bring a sense of what a mad house this country HAS become when even an outright opponent of Chavez recognizes that some within chavismo are a little bit taken aback by the audacity.

Still, as if this were not enough, today El Universal produces an interview of Mr. Granier by Roberto Giusti (part 2 and 3). No words were minced either. A few sections translated:

RG: Will the moment of the final strangulation [of the media] come?

MG: Yes. This day we will all be sorry. The country because it will have lost independent opinion and the government because it will pay a price on the long term. These criminals pay a long term price. Stalin died in bed.

RG: Then he did not pay.

MG: No, but the Russians did pay. Maybe those who strangle public opinion will not pay but Venezuelans will pay.

[snip]

RG: Anderson having been transformed in a martyr of the revolution, Hill they reject the investigations that have not been already set up in the indictments? In other words, is there already a decision on that case?

MG: All of this is happening within the frame of a very irregular electoral scenario where the government uses any pretext to promote itself and reduce the adversary. There is a harassment and terror plan to bend the opposition, to make sure it does not dare to accuse, to make sure it does not start to march in protest, nor participate [in elections]. The Anderson case allows [the government] to make significant rallies, to occupy media space and to take them away from the opposition. It is not a matter of only hiding corruption and crime. In Venezuela there has been more than 6 000 summary executions since this administration reached office and the responsible cops are going around free and doing even more. The only thing novel is the electoral use that is given to that case.

RG: Is it not being attempted to criminalize the opposition by accusing of murderers a select group of its leaders?

MG: It is a carbon copy of what happened in Cuba. And it is our fate. Already Castro manages our foreign, military and electoral policies. The wishes of the government is to make many elections facing a trapped opposition that does not express itself or take to the streets.

[snip]

RG: You state that Chavez leads a corrupt and inefficient government, but he still has the support of at least half of the people.

MG: The history of the world is full of such aberrations and alter the people that have suffered them complain. How many people did Stalin and Hitler and Mussolini kill?

[snip]

RG: There is transition point, when you start losing popular support, but you already have enough power to sustain yourself through repression.

MG: This is what is happening right now and from this the present media show. As the government keeps losing popular fervor it looks for an external enemy to try to unify the people and then starts that repressive process, intimidating, though terror. And when people are afraid, they freeze.

[snip].

RG: And is there not something similar happening? [looking for external confrontation to reinforce internal power]

MG: Yes, but he [Chavez] is not taking the big step. He has threatened Colombia, but he does not dare. He did so early against Guyana but he backed down and he lost, in his mistake, the territory [note of this blogger: that error of Chavez all but lost any claim that Venezuela had over the Essequibo region]. He threatens the USA, but here it is the US embassy and the Venezuelan one over there. He offends more Fox than Bush because he knows that Mexico is not a military menace in the way he sees things, though commercially this is going to hurt us a lot.

So there you have, RCTV and Globovision have thrown the gauntlet in the arena. Who will pick it up? The opposition leadership and carry it as a powerful electoral banner? Will the prosecutor jail Granier and Zuloaga? Will the National Assembly pass yet a stronger gag law? Any or all of the above in a show anytime soon.

At least one thing is clear now: people are not beating around the bush anymore, we know what is really going on. And some players seem to have decided to call on Chavez bluff.

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1) the video from Zuluoga can be found there, but it is a pay site. Look for "Guillermo Zuluoga..." 17-11-2005

2) ditto for the video of Granier, look for "Presidente de empresas 1BC..." 17-11-2005

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Added in proof, some additional relevant material. Miguel's take. Plus backrooms "sweet deals" while all of this show takes place in front. A financial view over the Mexico-Venezuela spat, with numbers. And a witness declaration at the US Congress on US Venezuela realtions, in Spanish and English.

Also some fascinating research work on the role of Vladimir Villegas, the pseudo ambassador of Venezuela in Mexico who in fact was a funding agency for all sort of trouble makers over there, things that woldl make SUMATE and the NED blush in shame for "pena ajena". As usual, fascists enjoy the application of double standards.

Great moments in the republican separation of powers

So you have one of the 5 Venezuelan powers in trouble. What do you do? Bring in another of the powers to make some outlandish charges and distract attention. You are allowed to be so brazen in that action that you can even bring in the head of the helping power to clear up any possible doubt that there might be a separation of powers in Venezuela.

The details now

Isaias Rodriguez, Prosecutor General of the nation, is in trouble. As extensively reported in this very page , the Anderson case does not even deserve anymore the title of opera buffa (one of the posts on that subject). In fact, words fail me to qualify the show set up by Isaias. The attorney, part of the 4th power which to date we wonder if it has any other function but to protect corrupt public servants, is looking quite strained under the constant calls for his resignation, deserved calls just for his sheer incompetence in setting up such a lousy show. (1)

Obviously the public relations problem created by Isaias is becoming so bad that a new charge is brought for to justify jailing Mezerhane, and, might as well, jailing a few more that have been covering so unflatteringly Isaias mediocrity. The chosen messenger is no one else than the president of the National Assembly, Nicolas Maduro. This man is of such limited abilities that as a Caracas Metro employee he failed in stirring serious trouble in the Metro Union where he was sent to enroll in as a trouble maker. He had to wait for Chavez to pick him up to start a career in legal delinquency. He knows where his loyalties are as he knows full well, and to his credit, that by himself he would have never made it even to night usher of the National Assembly. Now, well, he is the chair and lives well, displaying a rather puffy face. He pays back his employer by uttering any nonsense according to the moment, and passing any tasteless law that seems necessary, even calling the Nazional Guard if required to shut down opposition legislators. It is this fine democrat that added a new piece to the Mezerhane story today, where supposedly he tried to buy the judge last Monday night with three million dollars (cash, I think).

Just right there how come Maduro is the one letting on the Prosecutor office of such actions? How did he learn about that? Is that his role? Is that his role to even announce it publicly instead of sending the tip to the appropriate authority? Is it that Isaias is crumbling under so much ridicule that Maduro decided to shoulder some of the burden?

So, according to the information “revealed” today, this would be the story of Mezerhane trying to kill Anderson.

Mezerhane, successful, wealthy Jewish banker, and media player, and businessman in Venezuela felt compelled to eliminate prosecutor Anderson (for motives that have yet to be disclosed; the motives! The motives someone! Quick!). To do that he went to some meeting in some jungle outside of Venezuela where he all but handed his business card around. Then the prosecutor was blown to pieces. Cunningly Mezerhane decided to have his media outlet, Globovision, promote for a year a campaign to demand the government to investigate the Anderson case. Lo and behold! Isaias after one year suddenly declares that Mezerhane is one of the intellectual authors (among about a dozen or so, all vouched for by the sole accounting of a psychotic Colombian witness). Mezerhane “hides” for a few days while his lawyers inquire within. Quickly chavismo has rumors flying that Mezerhane bailed out of the country. But surprise, the guy surrendered Monday morning. One would expect that this surrender would signify a normal prosecution of the investigation while the guy, convinced of his innocence nicely stays in jail expecting for a favorable result. But no! Apparently he threatened one of the prosecutors that took his deposition. Yes, Mezerhane went to jail so he could insult a prosecutor. And that is not all. According to Maduro on Monday night, Mezerhane attended a reunion where he offered 3 million dollars to the judge in charge to let him go free by sabotaging the dossier.

Unfortunately for Maduro, this already absolutely unbelievable tall tale blew up on his face as he was speaking at a press conference. One reporter asked how come Mezerhane could attend that meeting since he was already in jail. Maduro, obviously at a loss (see the precious Globovision video of it), obviously confused and on drugs (he seems to have a bad cold and charitably I attribute that particular bout of incompetence to some anti cold medicine) took a while until he realized what the words of the journalist meant. Eventually he mumbled some avoidance words that were sterlingly unconvincing.

That was not all. A little bit later the head of Globovision offered to trade places with Mezerhane, and pointed out that he could not have been to some of the activities that Maduro described because, duh!, he was at work with 200 or so witnesses. Major blow in the face to Maduro. Another blow, by the way, is that apparently Mezerhane tried to buy a judge that had already been fired from his case. I mean, reallly, how stupid can Mezerhane be? But since this was all a prepared set up, of course, Isaias went ahead anyway with the plan and was prompt in announcing an investigation on the whole business. I suppose that "fishy" is in the eye of the beholder.

No words on why would Mezerhane surrender just to offer three million dollars a few hours after when he could have left the country with the money and live safely and comfortably for the rest of his days…

My take? Do I really need to convince the reader that this is a set up where chavista lackeys act together, without any regard to the position they occupy in the Republic, to find an excuse to close up Globovision, the real target in this whole sad show?

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1) Isaias forms part of the 4th power of the 1999 constitution, the Citizen Power or Moral Power. Together with the Ombudsmen and the Comptroller he is in charge of making sure that the laws of the land are followed and do not hurt the citizen. But since this infernal trio is in office corruption has never been so unbridled and the citizen so unprotected.

Note: Stig at Albacom has posted the video of Brownfield interview. I hope that soon he will treat us with the Maduro video moment of the journalist unmasking him. Stay tuned!

Note 2: Stig has come through. There is the Maduro video!!! Do not miss it and observe how puffy and distant Maduro is. Observe also how he tries to dodge the journalist doing her work after she nailed him. Those are our public officials, spreading lies and refusing to furnish the proof or to account for themselves. ¡Que sabroso!